I got my credit card statement today. Among the many transactions for stuff I know I made, were a series of charges made in South Florida from November 27th that were definitely not mine
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{{{{{HUGS}}} That's awful! And, yes, I would think they'd notice charges being made simultaneously a thousand miles or so apart. Sheesh. Must be something in the air. We just got notice today that our mortgage company "lost" a tape with our personal information (including our Social Security numbers) in transit to the credit reporting agency. I can't tell you how thrilled that makes me.
We just got notice today that our mortgage company "lost" a tape with our personal information (including our Social Security numbers) in transit to the credit reporting agency.
Geez, that's awful. How the fuck do they lose something like that? I'm sorry to hear that and hope it works out for you without too much stress. Unbelievable. *HUGS*
I have no idea how you lose something like our personal mortgage information. I'm also unnerved by the fact that your card was somehow fraudulently duplicated while still in your possession. The sophistication of these thieves is alarming. At our end, the mortgage company is offering everyone whose info was on the tape a free membership (for a few months, anyway) with a credit-monitoring agency, which I think I'll take them up on. I would imagine that if the tape has fallen into the wrong hands, the info on it will be used quickly, before there's time for people to sound the alarm. We can decide if we want to extend the monitoring service after the free period expires, just to make sure that no one is waiting for the alarm to blow over before using the info. The price of life in the information age, I guess. Again, I hope things work out for you quickly. And, it would be nice if they caught however did it, also quickly.
I think you can get a free credit report once a year by law - or something, especially if there's a chance you've been a victim of fraud or may be. But a few months monitoring might be good.
I filed a 90 fraud alert with Transunion and they will notify the other credit bureaus so that gives some comfort. Beyond that, I think the fraud alert can be extended for years but I'm not sure of the particulars. You may want to have them call you if anyone tries to run a credit score on you or applies for any new credit cards.
One way they get your card info is when you give your card to a waiter -- for example -- to go pay your lunch tab while you sit at the table. If they're a thief they can swipe it through a little hand held scanner that's about the size of a pager and it records all the info off the magnetic strip. They can then sell the info.
Never let your card out of your sight. Take it to the register yourself and watch while it's swiped in the credit card machine.
I used to work for AMEX so I've heard of all kinds of ways people can screw people over.
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Geez, that's awful. How the fuck do they lose something like that? I'm sorry to hear that and hope it works out for you without too much stress. Unbelievable. *HUGS*
What a pain.
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I filed a 90 fraud alert with Transunion and they will notify the other credit bureaus so that gives some comfort. Beyond that, I think the fraud alert can be extended for years but I'm not sure of the particulars. You may want to have them call you if anyone tries to run a credit score on you or applies for any new credit cards.
Reply
Never let your card out of your sight. Take it to the register yourself and watch while it's swiped in the credit card machine.
I used to work for AMEX so I've heard of all kinds of ways people can screw people over.
Reply
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